Do not under estimate the effect that a good diet and some vitamin supplements/antioxidants can have on your performance at our age too. I get a regular thorough check up with a Naturopath who balances what my body is generally low on (for example Vitamin B12) with changes to what I eat to increase those Vitamins, or If that wont boost it enough then maybe a supplement for that. Ive just had a Vitamin B 12 injection which had noticably increased my day to day energy levels and concentration. I also take Vit C & E which are good antioxidants for getting rid of Free Radicals (the damaging toxins left over when muscles burn Oxygen) and also Good quality fish oil, which, amongst other benefits is very good at reducing inflammation in the joints. Also I find Glucosamine really helps in speeding up any shoulder or knee injurys.

I used to think it was all aload of crap, and alot of people take heaps of stuff they dont even need and are actually getting no benefit from because they are drawn in by clever marketing and sold things by shop assistants who have very little understanding of what they are recommending.

But since I found someone that just tells me what I do actually need, and how to balance my diet, the difference in my fitness, and probably even more noticable my recovery over the last 12 months has improved 10 fold. Last week we had 6 consecutive Days of good swell, which I managed to surf 5 of those, sometimes for up to 4 hours until my arms and neck were just completely burnt out, Next day no aches or pains and fully recovered for another session.

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I've heard the fish oil helps with joint stiffness. Any specific oils? Any other supplement advice for joint and muscle stiffness that's not advil or aleeve? Finally, I'm about 185-190 lbs, I guess that's 86KG. I have the 6'4 HF and the 6'0 PN. Trying to downsize the PN to a 5'10. I know the PN is 2.5 thick and the HF is 2.6 thick? I think volume wise the PN is the same as the 6'4 HF. Do you find the PN to still work well in smaller, weaker waves for your weight despite it still having the same volume as the HF. I always figured it was better to increase the volume on your smaller wave board compared to your performance wave board? I know I should be on a 6'2 HF but the 6'4 has worked well and doesn't seem to floaty at all. I thought The 6'0 PN at 2.6 thickness would be the perfect size but it is just to thick, especially when its onshore and choppy. I bounce and shift all over the place on the 6'0 in junky surf. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Yo Bumper, if you have joint issues as I used to as a result of many gnarly snow board trips and what appears to be our foods being some what depleted of proper nutrients these days, I highly recommend 2 supplements;

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Yeh I just use a good quality fish oil as it does help with any stiffness but its also very good at reducing any inflamation in the joints too. Plus it has all sorts of other benefits too. I also found that increasing my protein intake helped significantly with aches and pains too (eat more lean meat or take protein powder), as I wasnt having enough initially my body was struggling to repair muscle and tissue damage caused by strenuous exercise and thats why sometimes I used to ache so much next day. If your still getting joint and muscle stiffness after trying these then you may need a specific supplement like condruiton/glucosamine type supplements. There are some good ones out there but they are quite expensive.

As far as the PN gos, Ill let you know in a week when it gets here. I love my 6'4 HF and feel that although I could drop to a 6'2 Im probably going to stay with the 6'4 for now. So thats why I chosed a 5'10 PN to keep the volume around the 36L mark, I could go a size lower but will probably appreciate the volume when Im competing with guys on Longboards and Mals.